Have you ever heard of employee monitoring? We are certain you have. Especially if you’re running a business yourself. In the corporate world, it is essential for every employer to track employees so they can be aware of everything that they do during working hours.
Keeping track of your employee’s location has become easier and more affordable than it was a few years down the road. Back in the day when there was no advanced technology and no means of tracking employees’ location and whereabouts, it was rather difficult for employers to know where their employees were at a given time and what they were doing.
With so many employee monitoring tools and GPS trackers out there, it has become easier for employers to keep a check on their employees. In fact, some monitoring tools also claim to help you learn how to find someone’s location by cell phone number. However, they may not be as effective as other monitoring and tracking tools that offer reliable employee tracking services.
When an employer can track the location of his/her employees, they can help improve the operations, security, customer service, as well as record keeping of the company. But, at the same time, employers should also keep employee trust and morale in mind before monitoring their activities and location. It is recommended to inform employees prior to deploying monitoring software on their devices and vehicles.
In this article, we will discuss some legal and ethical considerations to help employers design an effective employee monitoring policy for using monitoring and tracking apps that are legal and beneficial for both employers and employees.
Employee Location Tracking: Legal or Not?
Before getting hands on employee monitoring software and installing it on your employees’ devices and vehicles, it is recommended to all employers go through the rules and regulations and privacy laws related to employee monitoring that exists in the country or region where their business operates.
Different countries have different laws, rules, and privacy laws concerning employee monitoring so employers should know and check about them prior to considering employee monitoring tools for their employees.
Employee monitoring can be tricky sometimes given most countries follow different rules and regulations and privacy laws. Some countries allow employers to monitor their employees’ phone calls and computer usage whereas others allow only location tracking of employees.
Though this may confuse several employers, still it is not an issue that cannot be addressed. When employers get their employees’ consent about tracking and monitoring, they can protect themselves from potential legal problems and also streamline the process of drafting and implementing a good employee monitoring policy.
An employer should make sure that employee monitoring is legal in the country where their business operates. This provides them a legal authority to process employees’ activities and location during working hours. At the same time, an employer should be completely transparent to their employees about how and why their data is being recorded, collected, and processed.
By doing this, the employer can gain employees’ confidence and does not make them think for a second that their privacy is being invaded in any way.
Monitoring Company-Owned and Personal Devices
In most countries, employers are legally allowed to monitor all activity being carried out on company-owned devices. For instance, if an employer hands over company-owned mobile phones and laptops to their employees, they can track them through monitoring software, GPS tracker, or even IP address.
The same rules to all company-owned devices even when employees take them home and use them during off-work hours. If you want to keep a check on your employees all the time, it is recommended to hand over company-owned devices to them.
However, employers are not legally allowed to monitor employees’ personally-owned devices. There are a few occasions where employers may feel the need to monitor employees’ personal devices such as:
- The device is being used for office work
- The device is being used during working hours
- The device is being used in the office premises
If the employee’s personal device is not being used for office work, during working hours, or in the workplace, then employers cannot monitor them in any way. Even after seeking employee consent, still employers cannot justify the reasons to track a personal device that an employee is not using for office work.
In case a company does not provide company-owned devices to employees and asks them to bring their personal devices to work, then the employer needs to create an appropriate Bring-Your-Own-Device (BYOD) company policy and set it in place.
If the employee’s personal device can gain access to the company’s servers, networks, confidential data, and documents, then it becomes necessary for the employer to install some sort of employee monitoring software or phone spy app on the device so they can remotely monitor it.
Track Employees’ Vehicles
It is also legal for employers to track the location of any company-owned vehicles used by employees. While seeking consent prior to tracking company-owned vehicles is not mandatory, it is still advisable to get consent from employees anyway.
Employers can either install GPS trackers on the vehicles employees are using or a mobile tracking app that their employee is using for work. Mobile tracking apps are usually installed on the employees’ devices to track the location of the employees. As mobile tracking apps support GPS technology, they help employers locate the exact whereabouts of employees through their smartphones.
Companies dealing in construction work or those sending their sales team on field trips can consider using GPS tracking apps to monitor the location of their employees to ensure they are at the same places where they were supposed to be.
Best Way to Track Employees
The best and safest approach to track employees’ activities during working hours, as well as their location, is using an effective, professional, and reliable employee monitoring software. Mobistealth has been an extraordinary example of such effective monitoring software as it allows employers to gain insights into employee activity and location whenever they want.
With simple and quick installation, employers can remotely monitor the phone calls, text messages, emails, instant chats, internet history, social media activity, as well as the location of their employees during working hours. This efficient employee monitoring solution can be installed as computer software on employees’ computers/laptops or as mobile apps on their smartphones.
We’d recommend you give a try to this amazing monitoring software and be amazed at the astonishing results. While you can obtain optimum results with monitoring software, at the same time, you also need to pay attention to being transparent and honest with your employees about it. Once you do that, worthy results will naturally follow and your company will continue to prosper.
